Discrete Simulation and Animation for Mining Engineers

The GPSS (General Purpose Simulation System) computer programming language is a special language that is used primarily to simulate what can be classified as discrete systems. A discrete system is one where, at any given instant in time, a countable number of things can take place. The basic operation of a mine itself can be considered such a system. This book primarily focuses on "how to do" simulations in discrete system applied to mining engineering for increasing the efficiency of industrial mining processes.

John R. Sturgul holds a BS in mining engineering (with honors) from Michigan Technological University, Houghton, USA; an MS in mathematics from the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA; and a Ph.D in mining engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He also holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Petrosani, Romania. Recognized as the world’s leading authority on the application of discrete system simulation to mines, Dr. Sturgul is currently a professor of mining engineering at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He has been actively engaged in mine simulation and animation for more than 30 years. His work in this field has taken him to more than 60 countries and earned him numerous awards in Chile, Romania, the United States, Spain, Argentina, Peru, South Africa, Greece, and Australia, where he received the Ray Page Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Simulation Society. His model of the Lihir gold mine, located on an island northeast of Papua New Guinea, was the first example of a mine initially designed using a simulation model. He published the first textbook on the subject in 2000, and now this new textbook explains the details of constructing such models.